Jared Goff helps preview Lions’ divisional matchup against Vikings | Twentyman in the Huddle Ep. 74

pivotal Week 16 divisional matchup between the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings as the Lions look to win a division title for the first time in 30 years. To start, Tim is joined by PJ Clark to break down their key matchups for Sunday’s contest, including Ben Johnson vs. Brian Flores and Cam Sutton vs. Justin Jefferson. After that, ESPN’s Kevin Seifert calls in to talk all things Minnesota Vikings, with notes on what the offense has looked like with Nick Mullens under center, how the run game has developed around Ty Chandler and the latest injury news from Minneapolis. Lastly, Lions quarterback Jared Goff sits down with Tim to discuss his five-touchdown game against Denver, the continued development of Sam LaPorta and what Teddy Bridgewater has meant to him this season. Stay tuned for more coverage of Lions at Vikings in Week 16.

Highlights include:
– 0:00-0:25 – Podcast introduction
– 0:26-19:44 – Key Matchups for Lions at Vikings
– 19:45-32:43 – Kevin Seifert on Nick Mullens, Ty Chandler and the Vikings
– 32:44-40:02 – Jared Goff on the 2023 season, Jameson Williams and team goals moving forward

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Momes back throws it is incomplete picked off picked off by the Lions Brian Branch with it left side he’s going baby he’s going to the house touchdown to tr Lions deflected in the air branch ran under it and he took it all the way back welcome to the 20min in the Huddle

Podcast presented by Microsoft it is week 16 of the NFL season I am Tim tman he is PJ Clark it is another episode of the 20an the Huddle podcast and I’ve got a good one here I got Kevin sefor on uh this week he’s going to break down Minnesota

A certain quarterback who threw for five touchdowns I think’s going to stop by and chat with me for a little bit uh it’s a good tease yeah thank you thank you um and then we have the key matchup segment as always and so one of my favorite segments especially doing it

With you uh PJ brings a lot of football knowledge to the table and so I think this week we’re going to jump right into it you know obviously everybody knows what’s on the line um in terms of you know how big um of of week this is you

Can do something for the first time in in 30 years there’s an excitement around um the city there’s excitement around the football team but I get a sense from the guys in the locker room and I think they’ve done a good job with it of um business as usual uh that’s been the

Message from Dan all the way back to Monday um take care of our business first just handle this like a normal week prepare like we always do and then we’ll you know let the chips fall where they may I think I mean the good thing

About how the lions are set up right now and the benefit I think of having the Minnesota backend schedule which everybody was critical of when it happened but now the good thing is it’s it’s all in front of you you’re not relying on anybody else there are no you

Know yeah you could potentially clinch tonight on Thursday with a with a Rams loss but that’s not what you’re going for you’re going for the division and you hold your own cards there so I I think business as usual has to be the Mantra because that’s you’re going out

And trying to win every week it’s no different than the week before so the podcast is doing business as usual we are going to get right into the matchups this is the business of the key matchup segment and let’s start with this one uh p is offensive coordinator Ben Johnson

Versus Minnesota defensive coordinator Brian Flores because I think that is a very interesting Dynamic to this week’s contest you look at Brian Flores and the job that he’s done um over there in in Minnesota and it’s weird because usually a team is um either pressure you know

Heavy or they’re coverage heavy and when you look at Flores I mean he’ll bring the Blitz and do cover zero they they Blitz about what 47% of the time I think pro football reference had them at but then the very next play you’ll see them you know drop eight in coverage and Rush

Three and so they’re they’re not really one of either they’re both and I think that’s an interesting Dynamic and they’re they’re the most unique defense in the league because they’re highest in Blitz rate but also highest in drop eight so it’s you have to it’s it’s a

Lot to look at and it’s a lot to to kind of comprehend and they’ve been so good against the run all year they have a lot of different new Personnel this is a really different team that that they kind of came in obviously without cousins offensively it’s a different

Team and Jordan Addison’s a big ad but defensively they flipped a lot of this roster from from The Usual Suspects that Lions fans are used to danial Hunter obviously still still around he’s the big one but you’re starting two young linebackers you got Josh matelis a Michigan guy that Lions fans might be

Familiar with but he’s taken a lot bigger of a role this year at safety it’s a different defense that Brian Flores has never been afraid to send the house and certainly has not this year yeah they’re seventh in points allowed they’re 13th overall they’re fifth against the run and I thought a very

Interesting stat that I saw this week and actually Dan Miller um who’s been on the podcast has a great job as as the voice of the Lions um kind of put me on we were sitting down in the media room before uh one of the coordinators were

Talking he’s like flips a piece of paper over he said look at this that’s kind of crazy the Minnesota Vikings have allowed one run of 20 plus yards all season long I think that’s a kind of a crazy stat hard to do and especially they’re a

Defense that doesn’t play a lot of Base so they’re a little bit lighter and I think when teams maybe see that and certainly we’ve seen it on third down with Ben Johnson right in situations third and N not afraid to run the football because hey that’s a lighter

Person now you know I think we can get they play smaller linebackers too Ivan face their their star rookie linebacker undrafted free agent went undrafted because of the size and if you watch them they tackle they tackle so well and they crowd they get crowd to the

Football to to to be a defense that doesn’t play a lot of plays plays um sub packages a lot blitzes a lot to not even get caught in a 20-yard run when you Blitz I think that just goes to show um the difficult task that um Ben Johnson

Those guys have this week but look talking to Ben on Thursday he was excited about it too you know it’s something different it’s not something you’re going to face every week so you you you definitely have a little I feel like it’s a it’s a nice challenge to

Game plan against this and look Ben has been doing it at a high high level for a long time and you just look at some of the offensive statistics and it’s it it’s really crazy I mean they fifth in points third in total offense second in rushing fourth in passing seventh and

Third down sixth in red I mean there’re top seven in every category um and I think last week was kind of the culmination of what you can see when this offense is really humming when they get Aman R st Brown for 100 yards when they get 185 yards from their run game

And 100 from J Mo when they get leaport on one-on-one matchups and get um you know three touchdowns when Jameson Williams is impactful not just a big play here there but four catches 47 yards some tough catches like when they get everything going um it can result in

42 points and they can be really tough to beat and so I think this is just a fantastic match up between a really good offense and a really unique and interesting and fun defense to watch yeah and and you look at Minnesota’s game log I mean particularly the San

Francisco game that’s an offense that the lions are going to continue to be compared to as one of the better teams in the NFC they’re the one seed right now worst game of py season worst game of mcaffrey season they stifled the San Francisco offense love had a tough time

229 29 yards against the Vikings Russell Wilson was under 260 they’ve done a really really good job of keeping quarterbacks in check especially recently so this should be a very interesting one for the Detroit Lions offense obviously a key match up all right let’s go up to the next one um cam

Sutton uh quarterback for the Lions he’s been playing some really good football over the last bar really gets thrown at anymore over the last three weeks and obviously it’ll be interesting to see what the Lions decide to do but he’s going to face Justin Jefferson who

Missed a big portion of the season with a hamstring injury but he’s back we all know um he’s one of the best wide receivers in the league will the Lions travel um Sutton with Jefferson will they trust sides it’ll be really really interesting but um you know they trusted

Him against Courtland Sutton last week I think they threw it him what twice and he caught one for eight yards um Sutton has allowed two receptions in the last three games he’s playing some really good football yeah and and you look at how the Lions attacked Justin Jefferson

Last year first game at Minnesota six targets three catches 14 yards that was a little Jeff okuda and you had a safety bracketed on that side that was great at Ford Field little different 15 targets 11 catches 223 yards but who won the game little different but the wins were

Reversed so you never know but I think you got to see cam Sutton travel with courand Sutton not something that the Lions deployed against DJ Moore for example so maybe you’re you’re switching over maybe you’re ready to have Sutton kind of travel especially with the revolving door at CB2 right now Jerry

Hasn’t practiced yet this week vildor who’s it going to be how consistent is is that CB2 spot going to be Jordan Addison’s a real threat but do you just take number one corner versus number one receiver in this it’ll be interesting since Jefferson’s got back he only had

Two catches kind of working his way back in a couple weeks ago but last week seven catches 84 yards he’s averaged 123.3mi so you know obviously that’s going to be a big matchup just limit the big plays you know if if if they have to drive the football with um with the Nick

Mullen and and you know score on long drives I think you prefer that and you tip your cap afterward and say all right the third string quarterback was able to to consistently move down the field sustain drives not turn the football over which has been an issue um for

Minnesota um and and just don’t allow the one three four play drives with the big play and usually when that big play comes about it it’s Jefferson yeah it’s gonna be I mean the Lions will have their hands full as good as the Lions weapons like you said were last week I

Mean hackinson Addison and Jefferson is as good of a tri yep 100% I think one matchup that’ll be really fun and we talk about it all the time because it seems like pan every week has this this is why you draft P this exact matchup is why you draft p

Versus denell Hunter and when you look at the elite of the elite um pass rushers in this league I I put denell Hunter you know right at the top I think he’s got 15 and a half sacks on the gear he’s only a half sack behind TJ watt for

The NFL lead um he is a a guy who’s Relentless um he gets a number of those sacks P interestingly enough we talked about Flores and the coverages when they drop eight he’s got a number of those sacks on those those three um you know those those three-man rushes because

He’s just Relentless and he’s got such a good repertoire of pass rush moves um that he’s just he’s a problem and pan Su hopefully is the answer for the Detroit Lions yeah well when when you’re sending you know six seven guys you can scheme it so you can get your Elite Edge rusher

On on a one-on-one and yeah you’re going to think that he’s going to win most of those but he’s also getting the coverage sacks when they drop eight too because just a high motor player who does not quit on the play but going against maybe the best tackle in football I I mean

This year I number one ranked in PFF one sack of the Year 10 hurries this year wow it’s it’s as good as it’s going to get it’s as good as it gets and I thought it was really interesting when we talked to Ben Johnson Thursday and he compared pen to Trent Williams yeah

That’s a guy that’s been doing it for a long time that’s maybe the best left tackle to ever play in the National Football League I think there’s an argument there and for somebody to compare a third-year guy to him I think that just shows the Ascension of P Su

Where’s he where he’s headed the respect level that he has across the league and you mentioned it the one sack the 10 hurries and the one sack I think it was in New Orleans right I mean he was beside himself on the field he couldn’t

Even believe that he and it was P it’s one sack I mean but that’s just the the the the level that he’s at and it’s it’s going to be fun to watch him again against an elite guy we saw shut down Max Crosby we’ve seen him shut down um

You know some of the other Elite rushers in this league this both Chargers guys I mean you mentioned khil Mack is is up there in sacks this year nothing against Su and the Lions so do that’ll be a key one for sure all right let’s go to the next one Sam

Leaport who he’s pretty good he’s I think he’s gonna be all right uh Sam leapa verse um Cameron bham who I think is an interesting player for them um he handles I think a lot when I looked at last week’s um tape with with Cincinnati

He was kind of matched up a lot against the tight ends and the running backs I think they use him a lot in those matchups that’ll be interesting uh the Bengals Target him four times last week on tight ends but he’s a guy that just is is playing some really good football

Right now I mean 112 tackles he’s got nine passes defended he leads that leads all defensive backs with um in terms of the tackles with 112 he he’s kind of their guy back there that that is kind of their matchup answer for a lot of what teams try to do to them def

Offensively I mean he’s their leading tackler so he’s he’s down in the Box he’s he’s putting his nose in the Run game he’s ready to go but that also if you’re going to be playing box safety like that that leaves you maybe a little bit susceptible in the pass game that

You can beat him over the top and and you mentioned Cincinnati last week he’s been so good he was top five in PFF grade for safeties all year last year worst game of the year 34.0 GR ra for Cameron bam so he’s going to look to to battle back those four targets from

Tight ends four catches um also for um uh for for tight ends last week and but when you look at at Sam and you break down Sam I mean it’s it’s just been amazing and we we talk about it every week but I mean 71 receptions 758 yards nine

Touchdowns we know he’s the best rookie is he the best tight end in football yeah I mean I this year there’s certainly a a case for it the fact that we can say that and you guys prob aren laughing that we can Testament to how just great he’s

Been and I I was especially impressed last week that you know Patrick Chan would the maybe the best corner in football you know he got tasked with the Sam leap Porter assignment plenty of times and and Sam won it Sam scored one of the the touchdowns man up on him so

If you if you’re beating that guy it’s it’s it’s on tape now that you could probably go up against any I mean the run after the catch along the left sideline there I mean the guy you know being draped on and just being able to extend and and your creative route

Running get you open in the back of the end zone for the other touchdown and just what he does in the Run game he is just a complete player and for that to be the case 14 games into his career I mean we’re talking about alltime records

In terms of catches I mean he can become second this week with I think four catches he can pass shaki um and and you know touchdowns he’s eclipsing yards the dika record is right there in the in the in the mix too I just think got to get

Him to a th got to figure out how to do it it’s a little little off the pace needs like one more big game like figure out how to get him I was listening to the radio and I I’m sorry I I won’t give you the the proper credit but I don’t

Remember who was talking or what station I was listening to but they said it’s never happened and I have to double check it but it’s never happened where we’ve had two 1,000 yard rushers in the NFL and two 1,000 yard receivers never in the history I’m on Rod’s already

There leaport is trending toward that it’s going to be real close it’s going to be real close and then obviously with Gibbs and montgomer um it this offense is just fun it’s diverse it’s fun it’s got weapons and and I think that matchup with with Sam loraa and and Cameron bham

Is going to be an important one too especially coming off um you know the game that Sam had last week obviously Minnesota is going to be eyeing that and gonna know that they have to slow down Sam leapor yeah but at this point it’s it’s pick your poison Minnesota’s so

Good against the run but you’re going to throw a lot of resources at 14 and 87 and maybe maybe you can give up a uh uh jir Gibbs 20 yard run yeah it’ll be interesting it’ll be it’ll be fun and and let’s finish with this last one um

And I put Aiden Hutchinson versus Brian O’Neal and or slash David quizenberry because we don’t know yet we don’t know yet Brian O’Neal’s kind of been dealing with uh knee injury I think it is U missed the last week’s game but look he’s consistently um been a real good

Good right tackle in this league and if it’s not him uh quizenberry is a is a guy that will um you know fill in he’s kind of their U Matt Nelson their swing tackle that that that replaces um but O’Neal two sacks in in weeks 12 and 14

Um and that was it I mean he’s been really really good he’s playing you know at a pro bowl this is a guy that’s been doing it has a big contract been doing it for a long time you’re definitely seeing that Quisenberry has 28 starts so

He’s been in the league started a full year in 21 for the Titans no sacks one hit one pressure last week against the Bengals not bad not bad at all for a fill in but you know what Mullen got sacked three times last week the Bengals

Were able to take advantage a little bit can can the Lions specifically and maybe not just another one sack game can you get multiple can you get them in bunches can we see another maybe at Green Bay where you get five kind of kind of game

Like that and that’ll be and when you look at Hutch and you see the six and a half sacks but he’s got 60 hurries um he’s third in total pressures with with 89 he’s fourth with 16 quarterback hits he’s getting production but it hasn’t just resulted so much in in finishing

With sacks but I think the big thing Peach that’s developed over the last couple weeks is he’s getting help you look at guys like John Kaminsky and and Josh Pascal and what they’ve been able to do um opposite him and I think that supplements what the what you know

You’re going to get from Aiden which is consistent pressure maybe not always a sack but it’s going to be consistent pressure he’s always going to be around the quarterback and when he gets help from those guys on the other side that to me is when Detroit’s pass rush is is

Really at its best and I think we saw that a little bit last week yeah if you can get Kaminsky and and Pascal on the interior especially with Bruce Irvin maybe on the other side that’s you know that’s a pretty for formidable line you you know you’re going to get some at

Least penetration in there Aiden like you mentioned hasn’t finished maybe as much as you would like him to but in example last week was able to hit Russell Wilson’s arm kind of threw up a duck that that Kirby could have had an interception on that but those are the

Types of plays that the pressures result in they don’t always have to get sacks but if you tip that ball maybe a little more it hangs in the air just a second longer Kirby that’s a turnover so you’re going the other way you’re you’re he’s

So close he’s so close on so many of these that that maybe this is the week could just go it seems like when he does it’s such an impactful play and that’s why I think in in such an important game that’s why I wanted to highlight that

Matchup because when they when they kind of need a big play and we’ve seen it the last two years whether it’s an interception or a fumble how they ended the Chicago game it’s just it it seems like he’s right in the mix there and he’s part of that and they’ll certainly

Need him to be this week if if they can win a game and clinch a division and meaningful December football you look to your stars when when the chips are down man no 100% And so um it should be a fun one yeah it should be a fun one I’m I’ll

Be there I love that atmosphere that’s one of my favorite um places to play US Bank Stadium the white out’s going to be and school and everything but I love what Dan said about you know when he said early in the week when he said look

I don’t want any other way they’re the defending NFC North Champions and we get an opportunity to go to their place you got to go on there and take it and and and take it and I think the guys have embraced that um he has certainly

Embraced that I it will be fun it’ll be loud um we will be there uh we will do a podcast afterward as always and stay tuned because I’ve got Jared G and Kevin defert to break down uh this match up and everything Minnesota so stay with me 20 the Huddle podcast week 16

Potentially division winning week 16 fun [Applause] Stuff welcome back to the 20 hle podcast presented by Microsoft week 16 of the NFL season and we’ve got a fun one and helping me break down this week is Kevin seir does a great job with ESPN covering everything Minnesota Vikings Kevin thanks for joining me I appreciate you

Taking the time thanks for having me Tim a pretty big one week 16 we don’t we don’t get a lot of these all the time but you know obviously Vikings still fighting for um the NFC North title for their playoff life obviously Detroit looking to win their first um NFC North

Title their first division title in 30 years there’s a lot going on week 16 in the NFL wouldn’t want in any other way there’s been other years when we’ve gotten to this point in the season there hasn’t been a whole lot to write about and talk about so thrilled to hear that

Both teams have some genuine drama heading into this game you know Campbell talked about this week about you know turning on the Minnesota film and almost thinking like it’s a whole new team you know obviously you’ve played a whole year um just about since their last

Meeting at the end of last year but there are quite a few changes you know obviously defensively um for Minnesota a new quarterback obviously it just how different is this team than the last time Detroit saw them at the end of last year I mean much different this this

Whole season has been about uh the Vikings trying to find ways to replace Kurt Cousins who’s missed uh most of the season and Justin Jefferson who has missed most of the Season uh that was sort of their personality and what I think most people from the outside would

Sort of associate with this team entering the year and they they’ve started three different quarterbacks since Kirk Cousins and lots of different receivers Justin Chev his back but Nick Mullin is now the the starting quarterback and so that in itself um it doesn’t make the offensive scheme as

Different as you might think but certainly the uh the execution to a certain extent and you’re right defensively this is a 180 degree turn from the scheme they used last year that the Lions really I I think of that second Lions game and that was probably

The uh the the worst uh for the from the Vikings perspective that that defense played all year and was was one of the big reasons that they made the change to to Brian Flores in the off season oh just speak to Brian Flores and and what

He’s been able to do there you look at some of the numbers defensively uh in the top 10 in a lot of those important categories Kevin I we know they’re going to bring pressure they they lead the league in Blitz percentage too just how different and and how good of a job has

Has Brian been able to do in his first season there I mean he really has turned it around with basically the same Personnel they did let some players go uh from last year’s defense Eric Hendricks dvin Thomason signed with Cleveland Patrick Peterson left but the players who are on the field right now

For the most part were on the Vikings roster last year so he has really become not basically changed their entire personality from being very passive sit back you know put a top over the uh the offense to really attacking aggressive they lead the league in Blitz percentage uh they’ve he’s actually

Introduced a new combination of Blitz and coverage that really the NFL hasn’t seen before which is normally when you have six-man fronts you have you know cover zero or some sort of manto man behind it because that’s all you can do but uh he’s actually used a

Lot of Zone back there and that’s that’s really thrown offenses for a loop I think and they really only have the one um proven pass rusher in denil Hunter he’s got 15 and a half sacks and the rest of the pressure has really been scheme based so Brian Flores has done

You know one of the the best jobs I think of any coordinator in the NFL especially on the defensive side they have struggled to finish some games and have given up some late leads uh recently here but from an overall perspective it’s it’s been a night and

Day difference on their defense you me you mentioned Nick Mullins he gets the start um this week you played good enough to win the game uh last week obviously a tough overtime loss um to Cincinnati but what does Nick do well does this offense change much with him

There and and maybe where’s one area he needs to maybe tighten things up a little bit Yeah the interesting thing is that I think of the guys that they have that are healthy now him uh rookie the rookie jiren Hall and Josh dobs Nick Mullin is probably best equipped to run

The offense the way they designed it for kurk cousins which is really to aggressively throw the ball down field he has you know Brett Favre went to excuse me Nick Mullins went to the same uh College as Brett Favre and they They Know Each Other Well and he has some of

That in him the Gunslinger you know just the you know you only live once YOLO type of get it downfield and hope for the best and and that works out more often than than not I think Kurt Cousins was probably a little bit more uh efficient in those areas but uh Nick had

Some big uh downfield throws against the Bengals the other day but he also threw two interceptions um and both of them were in scoring position and really obviously hurt their chances to win that game and so uh they they’re obviously asking him to be more careful with the

Ball uh but frankly the way this off if this offense is going to succeed um it’s going to be through throwing downfield to Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison and TJ hackinson and that’s what they want from Nick Mullins and he’s probably best equipped of the guys they have on

The roster right now to do that yeah you mentioned the the the trio there as pass catchers I mean I think if you set a trio up against any other Trio in the league I think that one is right up there in terms of how dangerous they can

Be how productive um they are so um it seems like that is a pretty good fit there with him it’s been so long Kevin I mean who’s maybe a newcomer you mentioned Addison and and he obviously fits but but who’s a newcomer maybe Lions fans don’t quite know you haven’t

Seen yet who could impact the game on Sunday yeah I mean another a guy that’s a newcomer even for the Vikings as Ty Chandler their running back you know Alex Madison who has started who replaced Alvin cooka as the starter this year year and started uh the first I

Think his 12 games has had an ankle injury and so he didn’t play last week in Cincinnati uh I’m not certain that he’s going to be available uh for this game against Detroit and in his first start Chandler had 132 yards against the Bengals and it was the first 100 yard

Game that they have had uh since dvin cook last year in week 10 and so uh their running game has not been very good this year Chandler has a little bit more juice he’s he ran like a 438 at in the 40 at the combine a couple years ago

Has some elusiveness and and probably is their best running back at this point on the team and so I suspect he’ll be taking the majority of snaps if not all of them um from the running back position against the Lions and uh Vikings fans are learning about him the

Same uh pace and timing of the Lions fans will yeah it’s funny 4-38 we got a guy over here jir Gibbs who’s uh turned out to be pretty good same kind of guy 438 um what if yeah I know your coordinators talked earlier in the week I’m just curious maybe what’s what’s

Been the conversation about Detroit about where they stand about this football team and the challenge maybe ahead of them on uh them being the Vikings on Sunday yeah I mean they know from last year’s games you know they they had a fight and scratch and and and

And crawl their way to a win in the first match up at US Bank Stadium last year the Lions had a great chance of winning that game and then they really got it handed to him I think they realized in that second game um where they just were not able to stop the

Lions uh offense at all and so I think they they going into this game knowing it’s going to be very physical that the lions are going to be as motivated as they’ve been in decades I would imagine to uh to get this thing closed out um and I’m sure it would be especially

Sweet for them to do it at at US Bank um where they in their line sort of downtimes uh lost a lot of games in in there and at US Banks excuse me at the metronome as well and so I think I think they um and you know the interesting

Thing is that Kevin oconnell and Wes Phillips the offensive coordinator both had relationships with Jared Goff and and la and so they um they know that and I think what Wes Phillips said yesterday is you know that they know he can make every throw they know he will make every

Throw if you know unless there’s you know a severe amount of pressure on him and so they’re they’re prepared to have to disrupt him or know that they going to have to disrupt him in order to get him off of his of his game and so that

That’s an inter subplot as well they’re very familiar with how good Jared gof can be and again I’m talking with Kevin CER does a great job for ESPN covering everything Minnesota Vikings just a couple more quick ones Kevin uh maybe a matchup or two that you think is going

To be real critical to to somebody walking out of US Bank with a win on Sunday yeah I mean to me this has been the case for for the Vikings uh whenever Justin Jefferson has played is that we’re assuming that the lions are going to come up with with a type of coverage

That they usually don’t play in order to get Justin Jefferson the attention that he needs to get and so the the matchup will be can Justin Jefferson still beat those that type of coverage and if not or if Nick Mullin doesn’t throw his way can Addison and Hockinson compensate um

And we saw a lot of that last week in Cincinnati where they did get the ball to Justin but Addison made the big plays because he was you know in a couple cases lined up against linebackers and so that was the way the Bengals chose to approach it and they’ll always have

Hackinson there um in in the middle as well and so to me that’s the matchup you know the Vikings defense has been pretty good uh for the most part all year in terms of after the first few games in terms of keeping teams in in position where you know they’re within at least

Within Striking Distance so can the Vikings score enough points to to win and that to me is the matchup is will they be able to capitalize on whatever uh exotic defense the Lions end up using against just Jefferson to to make some big plays yeah I think it’ll be big up

Front too I’m looking forward to denell Hunter and Taylor Decker and Pen Su lions got all five of their you know top offensive lineman back for only the fourth time all year last week they came out of last week pretty healthy that’s obviously the strength of this football

Team and so how they can handle some of those blitzes and some of those odd man fronts and um you know shift guys over responsibilities and just protect up front that obviously been the key if Detroit could run the football and they can protect Jared Golf and get that play

Action game going as we saw last year um against Minnesota they’re tough to uh tough to defend so I think how they handle denell Hunter I think is going to be a big one in this one too absolutely and he and denal Hunter has been I mean

He’s had a career high in sacks at 15 and a half um a lot of them crazy enough have been when the Vikings drop eight and only Rush three and so what’s happened is um and because Daniel Hunter is just one of those Grinders he has a lot of great

Moves but he just never gives up on plays and so a lot of times what’s happened is you’ll see a quarterback go back and suddenly realize there’s instead of getting blitzed there’s eight guys in coverage and he’s struggling to find someone to throw to and denil Hunter just keeps grinding and and

Finally gets to him after 3 four seconds and so that’s where a surprising number of danil’s sacks have been have been just you know continuing to pursue when when the quarterback can’t find anybody to throw to and so that’s something to keep an eye on as well injury-wise how’s

It looking for the Vikings this week yeah again Madison uh you know he didn’t practice they had a bonus practice yesterday he didn’t wasn’t out there I’m not optimistic that he’s going to be able to play or at least a big role in this game and the other guy to watch is

Is uh Brian O’Neal they starting right tackle he sprained his ankle two weeks ago didn’t play against Cincinnati was also not on the field yesterday during that bonus practice I think that’s a little bit more fluid right now but you know there potential that the the Vikings will have to go the second

Straight week with David quizenberry at right tackle he’s sort of their swing guy he started at both left and right tackle this year for various reasons and he’s pretty good in that role but obviously Brian O’Neal has been a pro bowler and that would be the guy the

Vikings would like to have out there if they can yeah especially with Aiden Hutchinson and Bruce Irvin and some of those guys on the edge looking to make their mark on Sunday well US Bank Stadium is one of my favorite places to go the atmosphere in that stadium is is

Electric and I can’t even imagine what it will be like with everything that’s on the line Sunday Kevin Seer does a great job with ESPN thank you so much for joining me Kev and I’ll make sure I stop by and say hello in the Press Box

On Sunday same thing Tim good to see you see you Saturday or Sunday welcome back to the 20 the Huddle podcast presented by Microsoft in fresh off a five touchdown performance quarterback Jared GF that’s pretty fun when it when the game gets like that and I know you joked after the game that Ben was talking about it didn’t really

Matter he could call anything and and it would be working it just when you get into a Groove like that in offense and you feel like you can call anything on the play sheet just how fun is that Jared yeah it’s it’s really fun to be on

The field on in games like that and you you know you fight for that feeling every week and it’s hard to find and um the weeks you do you enjoy it man you really do and um we were certainly enjoying that one and you know big part

Of that game was five touchdowns from rookies jir Gibb and obviously jir Gibbs and Sam lorta just when you’ve got guys that are that kind of dialed in this late in the season when did you know that that those guys were were going to be pretty special yeah shoot as soon as

I got here and yeah oh yeah and I think I’ve talked about this a couple times this week because I keep talking about those two guys but like it’s a credit to Brad and those guys upstairs for bringing in guys like them they’re not the only two there’s there’s a bunch but

They’re the two that are kind of getting the shine right now but um yeah they’re very impressive maturity wise they’re very impressive obviously physically and um and they’re very impressive U mentally all both of them and the stuff that they can handle the stuff certainly

That Sam handles as a tight end is a lot um and he does a great job you know that’s really rare when you talk about tight ends you look at the season he’s having I mean guys don’t come in at that position and have that kind of year um

What makes him in particular just been able to kind of handle everything that’s you know been handed to him because you’ve got to learn the protections the Run fits you know you’re playing different positions I mean that is tough you don’t see that at the tight end

Position what makes him so good yeah I mean a ton of things I think first of all is how hardworking he is he he he comes out every single day with an intent to get better and um it’s shown up he’s gotten better as as he’s you know gone through ota’s training camp

Now into the season um he continues to get better um he’s got you know kind of some natural ability of of catching the ball and running routes um but but really it’s the work it really is the best ones in this league they work every

Day and and he is one of those right now how does that Dynamic make you guys is so difficult offensively when you’ve got a guy like Saint in the slot and then you’ve got a guy like leaport who can line up same side opposite side in line

Online just what kind of pressure does that put on a defense and um how much do you love that as a quarterback to have almost like two security bankets right there as a slot in a tight end yeah it’s it’s it’s nice for me both those guys

Are hell of players and um I I I feel fortunate to get to work with them every day and um I think you know not just them but everyone in the in that receiver and tight end room is is um so effective and so helpful but I think you

Know more than anything when teams want a double Saint Brown it leaves Sam one-on-one and and everyone else but Sam saw that New Orleans Sam has proven to win one-on ones pretty often exactly in New Orleans and um it’s a it’s a chance teams are willing to take at times and

It’s a chance they’re not willing to take so um it gives us some variability and and makes defenses think you guys have a chance on um on Sunday to win the first division title in this city for in 30 years I know you’ve won a division

Title before you know how big that is what it means to have that home playoff game just what will that mean to you what will it mean to the city and what will it mean to the team yeah it mean a lot to us that’s that’s our first goal

This year is is to win the division and um we’ve got a chance to do it we still got to go out there and do it we got to work hard this whole week and and find a way to win in a tough environment against a tough team um but yeah if if

We were able to do it it would it would be you know check mark number one for us and um I know I know what it means to the city I know what it means to you know the people that have been here a long time but uh for us we’re focused on

This year’s team and what it means to this year’s team and and it is our first goal and something we’re trying to attain still how important is that playoff game at home and especially when you you’ve seen the environment here for the home games you saw what it was last

Saturday we’ve seen Prime Time games here can you even let yourself imagine just how much of an advantage that would be for you guys you I’m not going to talk about it until it’s real so uh I get it I I can imagine what it would be

Like but um we’ve got to go earn it we really do and um we got the Minnesota Vikings standing between us and that and they’re going to try to continue to stand between us and that and um we’ve got to find a way to beat them and and

They’re a great team let’s talk about them for just a second defensively um BL Brian Flores has done a great job completely changed that scheme and you look at them on tape just maybe what jumps out to you Jared when when you watch that defense yeah the uniqueness

Of it and the amount of pressure they bring is obviously the first thing you see and um it’s kind of his Hallmark as he’s been calling defenses for for quite some time now and um they’re good at they’re it’s effective they’re they’re chaotic they can they can cause a lot of

Problems but um if you handle it the right way there there are ways to attack it and uh we plan to find ways to attack it and and even though it’s a challenge we are ready for it is it unique in the sense that you kind of sometimes don’t

Know if that they pressure about 50% of the time but then they drop eight a significant amount of time just what kind of pressure do that put on a quarterback is that just really knowing where your Hots are sometimes and then kind of where the holes are going to be

When they do decide to drop those defensive linemen and where can you take advantage of something like that not to give the game plan away no yeah it’s um I mean everyone has has seen it now for however many weeks and everyone has their different angles or ways that they

Want to attack it and we’ll be no different in in certain ways that we want to attack it but yeah they do a great job mixing it up they make it really hard for us and um again it’s a challenge but it’s something that we’ll be ready for couple more for you real

Quick uh Jameson Williams saw him have a a much bigger impact we’ve seen him work into games he’s working really hard he does all the little things good to see him have you know more production in terms of receptions D do you see that just kind of continuing to rooll as he

Gets more and more comfortable I do yeah the the Ascension for him I see continuing to go up and up and up as we keep on going and um I’ve said it for you know since he got drafted like it’s just reps he’s he’s a he’s a hell of a

Player we know what his talent is it’s just reps and getting on the same page and understanding his role with in each play and and he’s gotten there and he’s done a great job of that and um he’s a lot of fun to play with right now and

He’s doing a really good job news last week Teddy Bridgewater probably going to call it qu I’m just curious what he’s meant to you in that R what he’s meant to you know maybe this team as well yeah he I know he’s been a lot to this team

But to me personally man he’s he’s been tremendous it’s having a guy like him who has done it who has been in my shoes who who you know has had success at the you know starting quarterback and um being able to bounce things off of him

Man it’s it’s it really is nice for me to have a guy like that that that you know knows some of the struggles and challenges that I go through and and he’s been through them and he’s succeeded in them and he’s failed and succeeded and failed so he he can um has

A lot of insight on different things and um he’s been so good for me learning and and and just seeing him practice too he does so many things in practice that I pick up from you know a veteran that that that I wouldn’t have picked up

Otherwise so um he’s a hell of a player hell of a dude and and I’ve been fortunate to be around him this year Well coming off your best game of the season need one more this week to to kind of secure that goal that you talked

About uh have a good week of practice go to Minnesota come back with a division championship and then we can talk about maybe some bigger things that’s right all right Tim thank you sounds good thanks jar Oh